She looked at him kindly saying with a strong British accent, "Welcome, come in, Brutus will certainly be more than pleased to get some company." Gregory followed Keanu unsure, and he had a strange feeling as if something could be attacking him anytime such as some bad-tempered dog. Keanu seemed to enjoy seeing him nervously looking around as they followed Veronica into the house. The interior of the house was furnished in a cozy and warm way. It was cluttered with various oriental decorations and precious carpets. Gregory stepped carefully into the living room expecting an attack when suddenly something touched his legs. He winced and saw himself suddenly face to face with a large bushy black cat staring at him from green roly-poly eyes, purring loudly. Keanu grinned, "This is Brutus. You were probably afraid that he was going to eat you alive, wimp!"
"Let the boy alone, will you," Veronica immediately reprimanded him "you must be hungry, sit down on the terrace I will make you a little snack." Keanu opened the refrigerator and grimaced. "Why the hell do you always buy this ghastly Greek beer? The name alone says everything there is to say about it. How can beers with a name like 'The Myth' taste any good? Damn it."
"Stop bitching around the boy, your uncle Yaros likes this beer and how am I supposed to guess, that you will show up. You never call, you never write," then a few sentences in that strange language from before followed. "Ok, ok, don’t get excited Veronica, Gregory do you want a horrible, disgusting Greek beer?" Gregory didn’t have time to answer, because a can of beer shot at him, he caught it in a reflex. He opened the can because the heat was killing him and he was extremely thirsty. He took a big gulp and saw in the corner of his eye that the small housekeeper was staring at him intently. "I guess it tastes like beer, and I don’t know what Keanu is talking about." Veronica smiled satisfied giving Keanu a deprecating stare. He made a disparaging gesture going over to Gregory to get comfortable on one of the two brown Alcantara lounges. "You are such a low-brow, you’re hopeless anyway," he muttered, but the usual sharpness was missing in his voice.
Again, Veronica flooded him with a torrent of words in this strange language. It sounded as if she told him to behave properly or something like that. Keanu grinned cheekily, and she went away, shaking her head and disappeared into the kitchen. Gregory decided to look at the previously mentioned terrace. He stepped out, and the view was like from another world. On one hand, he looked directly from the rocky hill out to the shimmering deep blue sea. On the other, below the house, there was a large green-blue shimmering lake. Around that lake, flowers bloomed in so many colors. He hadn’t even been aware previously that so many different colors even existed. These colorful flowers somehow didn’t fit into the dried out scenery. Gregory was overwhelmed, it was exhilarating, and he had never seen anything like it. For several minutes, he stared at the lake and the flowers until he realized that Keanu had joined him. He glanced over at him, then back to the intense superb landscape. He couldn’t look away. "Breathtaking isn’t it?" Gregory nodded and looked at Keanu.
"It is the only source of fresh water on the island and at the same time also a nature sanctuary. The government lately built a seawater treatment plant, but it is not enough by far, and import is made from Sicily for most of the drinking water. The Maltese firmly believe that there is magic at this lake. Some say this is a bewitched place." Gregory looked at him questioningly, "Do you think it is true?" Keanu shrugged, "Who knows? In every rumor, there is known to be some truth they say, right? People around here are very superstitious. There are 365 churches in Malta, and they like to be close to God. As you see, there is a church for every day of the year."
"What do churches have to do with the lake and the colorful flowers? I don’t understand."
"You have to know that this island was pretty much conquered by all countries that were able to get here by sea once and therefore every culture has left its mark. Although the Island is independent by now, it still is a wild island. The British have probably contributed to the well-functioning bus system and the Arabs and Italians to the Maltese language, but these are only the most obvious characteristics."
"You don’t say, and there is supposed to be some Italian in that strange language? I couldn’t make that one out. The Arab however, was obvious from the start."
"Strictly speaking, there is 85% of Arab and 15% of Italian language in it and we are still in the sphere of influence of the Mafia. Don’t forget that the island is not that far away from Sicily. Back in time, one of the worst has come to the Island saving himself from justice. He was something like the antichrist for any decent Akando, even if he was initially a good guy."
"Who was he and what happened?"
"His name was Jamiro, and he was Alawa’s son. Alawa, was raped. Matteo Maltese, her slave-mongering employer, left her pregnant and chased her away, after he had raped her. She got sanctuary in the monastery but, died giving birth. Nuns raised Jamiro. At first, he didn’t hurt a fly being a good Christian Boy, as the Nuns brought him up ascetic and in God faith. Later when he was grown up, he found out who his father was and what he did to his poor mother. He snapped, killed the guy, and fled to Malta, in 1885. Once there, he took another identity. He called himself 'Il Santo'- The Saint -, and he vowed vengeance to the Mafia and the Sicilian clan. In Malta, he had an affair with Aaliyah, the daughter of a wealthy Maltese. Aaliyah’s family was against the union. They thought he was mad, and so to speak, they were right. Because, after the killing of his father the good Christian boy had left, and been replaced by a ticking time bomb. Anyway, they took her to the north exactly where you see this amazing artificially created lake. They locked her away because they knew that she was in love with Jamiro and their love was doomed, as he was a crazy fruit cake that could turn anytime from a nice young man into a cold-blooded monster. But, the Girl couldn’t think straight any longer. She loved Jamiro and saw only the good side of him. As I have already said several times, love makes people blind and clouds the senses." Gregory rolled his eyes heavenward, "God, I've got it, you don’t need to repeat it a hundred times."
"She managed to escape and met him down where the flowers grow. As she seemed to be a slight bit dramatic, she told him that she would run away with him. However, her father caught them in the act and didn’t let her go. Rather, they chased off Jamiro telling him to go to hell, threatened to kill him, if he dared to approach their daughter again. Aaliyah lost it completely and killed herself with poison. You can imagine that Jamiro didn’t take that well. Finally, he was what we would call probably today - mentally unstable - and besides he was still on his private vendetta against the Sicilian Mafia, who had taken his mother leaving no chance to have a family. He lost the last vestiges of humanity. Aaliyah had made him softer and soothed his urge for revenge, and as she poisoned herself, he freaked out a little bit more than ever before. In a so-called blood moon night, he burned down her parents’ house. Legend says Aaliyah’s spirit will never come to rest. Jamiro gave her his mother's amulet, and he still had the other amulet of Chiana. The nuns had taken both of them and then given them to him when he was old enough because they considered him reasonable and prudent. What a major mistake, because the only thing real about him was his lust for revenge. Both amulets have magical properties and the third, namely Ourdays amulet has disappeared and hasn’t been found until today."
He let the wooden amulet dangle back and forth in front of him. Gregory looked at him in disbelief, "So you think that that guy sold you the original amulet this morning? What makes you so sure that it's the real amulet if it is an old legend there are certainly thousands of these things lying around for tourists on the island" "You're right. It is hard to believe that this is the real amulet unless I would have been pulling some strings." he raised his eyebrows meaningfully, "we didn’t go coincidentally into that store today. That had been a long-planned action. Besides, why did you take off so suddenly?” Gregory shrugged shuddering at the thought of the strange guy in the shop, "Beats me, the guy had something repulsive, but I couldn’t get hold of it, let�
�s call it a lousy karma, but now go on."
"Tonight's blood moon is the time for us to react and we don’t even need the real amulet. What we need is the power of the amulet that we’ll try to activate by using our abilities, and evoking the spirits of Aaliyah, and Jamiro. Legend says that every time there is a Blood Moon, they find each other here on the lake where the flowers grow. At least Veronica says that and the old legends are full of this story." "And what the hell are we doing once we have conjured them? I thought Jamiro was something like Lucifer or worse." Keanu laughed aloud, and Veronica muttered something in Maltese. “This may at first glance look like it was a stupid idea, but the two will lead us to the real amulet, which is hiding somewhere at that lake. This amulet has ineffable forces that we can use damn well if we have to fight this time and want to win. Furthermore, you have to throw it into the crater, and not disappear yourself into the crater forever."
"Huh? Why should I disappear into the volcano?"
"Because you, my ignorant friend, - the Savior - can only be destroyed by fire from the Etna. The curse originally placed at the Etna, is the only place where they can destroy you for good. They have to throw you into that volcano, or the prophecy comes true, and the tables will turn, and their corrupt power will be broken. All traitors of the Black Vulture line will lose their magical abilities, which especially concern the Canadian Vultures, as the Sicilians only have powers in some rare cases. Besides, they will be hunted by their bad conscience day and night forever and ever. Imagine that!" He looked at him looking for applause and continued, "But first we need the real amulet and maybe later the help of your Canadian Akando friends and the Maltese Milan."
Gregory threw his hands in the air, "Great, I don’t understand anything at all. It is all far too high for me, and my head is spinning. I am afraid that it could explode. Who for Christs sake are the Maltese Milan?"
"The Maltese Milan are the descendants of Jamiro, a few years after Aaliyah's death he married a Maltese Girl - Amber - and with her he had four children. All of them boys; - Elijah, Jael, Maro and Aarin - Jamiro told them from the beginning the story of the corrupt and violent Sicilians and, unlike the descendants of the Onendas in Sicily, the Maltese descendants had inherited very strong abilities. The energy of the island appears to enhance the capabilities. However, only the element water and earth have been inherited, a somewhat one-sided thing, but whatever. They call themselves Milan and the Sicilian Mafia fears them and leaves them more or less in peace. They don’t let their abilities show and most of them are good guys. However, they are not squeamish and quite destructive if they need to be. It would, therefore, be advisable to have them on our side if you know what I mean." Gregory nodded thoughtfully. Things always seemed to draw larger circle than he though and got increasingly unexpectedly complicated, "How are you going to get the real amulet and how are the descendants to find out what we're about to do?"
"Tonight we are going to conjure Jamiro’s and Aaliyah’s spirits."
"Oh great, why didn’t I think of that? How are we going to do this, great Keanu?"
He looked at him scornfully. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you kid. You'll conjure all four elements; I think that should be enough to make them appear."
"But won’t it be visible on the whole the island, or at least be felt, especially in a blood moon night?"
“That is the purpose because ultimately we want their light bearer to notice, I mean we need the Milan to know and lure them to come and see us."
"Do we really want that? Could you possibly tell me why we would like that to happen?"
"The Milan must be on our side, I just explained that to you previously." Gregory didn’t know what to think of all that, "I don’t understand any of this. Are we preparing for some war? What are you talking about?"
Gregory's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out to see who was calling him. “Let me guess. Arielle is calling. Right?" Gregory looked up in surprise, "So, what! And how do you know that? Are you a mind reader or something?"
"More than that, I'll even tell you what she is about to say to you if you want me to." He looked calm, sitting down on the porch swing standing on the large terrace next to the wall. He began rocking back and forth, which looked ridiculous, and had an annoying effect on Gregory's state of mind. He turned away from him taking the call. "Hey babe," he said, but couldn’t talk any further, as Leyla's excited voice held him back from any other comments. He listened for a while, and Keanu rocked back and forth to a fare thee well, and the swing was making squeaking noises. Gregory looked irritated at him and disappeared on the other side of the porch to be undisturbed, without feeling Keanu’s curious look in his neck. "Whoa Leyla breathe and calm down will you? I already told you that I am no longer in Sicily. Don’t worry that much." She calmed down a little and then she told him about the Vultures being on their way to Sicily, "It is like some chase, and you are the prey. Their goal is to throw you in the Etna. I don’t know how many there are exactly, but one thing is sure. You need all the help you can get."
Gregory hadn’t expected any other information since Keanu's statements, but he couldn’t tell her about the Maltese Milan people. The less she knew, the less she would be in danger. "We are all coming to Sicily in two weeks as soon as the fall break starts," she said firmly. Now, there was panic in his voice, "No way, I have plenty of people who stand by me, I don’t want any of you to get hurt or even die because of me. At the very least you!" He said it with conviction, although he had no idea whether he would have someone at his side except Keanu. But she couldn’t come to Sicily under any circumstances. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself. "Besides, what do you mean we are going to Sicily? Who is we?"
"Who do you think I mean? All of the Akandos from Scarborough High, Shane and me."
"Hello, are you out of your freaking mind. Why Shane?
Who am I? The damn Statue of Liberty that you want to visit, I can see you showing up with my inner eye in one of these open tourist buses. I don’t want you to show up in Sicily in any case, it is not an option, and it is far too dangerous. Do you hear me? Did you ever think about, how I would feel if you or any of the others would be killed during your crazy mission? Besides, I already told you that I am not in Sicily at the time." She sighed, "God, don’t get so excited, nothing is going to happen to us, and I know that you are no longer in Sicily. But how many islands are there close enough to get quickly to Sicily? There can’t be that many, right? Let's face it. There are no more than three. You have to get back to Sicily fast to see if the people at the Circus received a threat or if something else happened?"
Gregory had to admit that she was quite clever and if she had found out about that in such a short time, why shouldn’t the Vultures find out? With discomfort, he thought back at Giada. The only ones who were groping in the dark were Antony and Valentina and these two didn’t even have magical abilities to defend themselves if it was necessary. He forced himself to remain calm. "Leyla, I don’t want you to come here, is this clear? You are my weakness if they get you they will catch me for sure. Don’t you understand that?"
"Of course, I understand, Gregory, but it will not hold me or the others back from going to Sicily, and if they should catch me, there is nothing you can do about it, and you shouldn’t bother. It is my decision, not yours. Therefore, I don’t expect you to feel guilty or surrender or whatever. We will come anyway whatever you say it is useless. Besides, if they wanted to do whatever it is to me, they could as well do it in Canada. So now I am asking you, what's the difference whether I'll come to Sicily or not?" Gregory knew she was right, and he was trapped either way. Keanu was right, love was his weakness!
He took a deep breath because he would have to do what he had to do, there was no other way out. "Then it might be best if we split up. You’ll be no longer in any danger. Stay where you are and tell everybody that we broke up. The Akandos, the whole School, do what you think is right. Then you show up in public visibly suff
ering a few days flirting with some other guy so that they all believe that you are over the breakup 'et voila' the problem is solved." Gregory felt bad, but he had to make sure she was safe. Leyla gasped for air, and she couldn’t believe her ears. Did he mean it? Was he breaking up with her, or did he honestly want her to pretend that it was over just to protect her? She didn’t understand how he behaved right now, "You mean, we pretend to break up, so you don’t have to worry about me being safe. Right? But in reality, we are still together, I mean you do still have feelings for me? I mean between us everything is all right, we are just pretending, right?"
Gregory had no idea how to break his decision gently to her, but sometime tough times required tough measures and these were undoubtedly tough times. "Leyla, listen to me, it is better for you if we go our separate ways from now on. I'm no good for you, you're better off without me," he paused, as he didn’t know how to tell her that things between them should strictly get back to the friend zone again. He started stammering, not sure, how to say it so that it didn’t look as if he just dropped her like a hot potato. She said with a strained smile, "Gregory, we've gone through this once before, and I don’t think that I have to remind you how it ended last time. You were busted for exactly the very same reason, and you told me the very same crap you are telling me now. Last time my date with Greyson pulled you over the edge, and you lost control, what is it going to be this time? Why don’t you want to admit that we belong together, no matter the obstacles standing in our way? It is our destiny, and it is a bad idea to stand in the way when destiny calls, or else you will be run over one way or another.”
Gregory knew that she was right once more, and he didn’t know how he would react if she got close to some other guy, but he couldn’t take any unnecessary risk. If he happened to survive, there would still be enough time to pick up the pieces and continue where they had left off, at least he hoped so. There was a saying that you met twice in life. Even if the second time around it possibly was too late to start all over again. He had to take the risk, the next words he said to her, hurt him deeply, and he regretted them before he even said them. However, there was no other way out, "Listen to me I think it's best if you don’t call me anymore. It doesn’t make sense anymore. Love is weakness, and there is a big possibility, that I will not survive the whole thing, that’s why it is better if our story ends with terror, than to end like a terror without an end." He closed his eyes and said firmly, "It's over, I wish you that only the best things may happen in your life." He didn’t even bother to listen anymore what she had to say to his final statement and hung up. Then he slowly slid down, letting himself glide to the ground. He sat there for a while against the wall, leaning against the cool stone. He felt incredibly depressed and empty.
Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy Page 17